Modern life: This old house has a drug habit

JUST when Australians thought they could stop being alert but not alarmed, and return to their habitual state of benign indifference, NSW police get on our backs about being vigilant again. This poster is part of a campaign launched last month to encourage us to notice and report on the drug-manufacturing houses proliferating through the suburbs.
Apparently people in golden bungalows are prime suspects, especially if they have horizontal timber cladding. From the positioning of arrows on the poster, it would seem smelly trees are a giveaway too, as are "hoses and pipes for water supply".

Be on the lookout for "unusual traffic flow" in the form of a parked white van. Fear anyone who draws the blinds but leaves the lights on - they're either growing dope or protecting their curtains from the sun. And get on the phone as soon as neighbours in gold houses with white vans cease collecting mail.

Missing from the poster is a Hills hoist - obvious technology for drying cannabis.

Oh, it's easy to make fun. The only important question is: does the campaign work? The police media unit told us yesterday the house is indeed in a Sydney suburb, but the photo was taken "eight to 10 years ago" and the image was "reversed and re-coloured to prevent the house being mistaken for a person's private residence".

As for the effectiveness, "information from the public often leads to arrests and/or significant drug seizures as shown by today's seizure of 584 hydro-cannabis plants with an estimated potential street value of more than $2 million". No detail was available on the colour of the house or the odour of the trees.